Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

The comparison is rather confusing because this article is not about synthesizing genomes, but individual genes. The $0.02 seems to be just a somewhat arbitrary number at which DNA synthesis isn't a large cost factor anymore.

The genes that are typically ordered are a few thousand nucleotides long, synthesizing the whole genome would be an absolutely monumental effort and probably out of reach for now. The largest artificially synthesized genome was done by Craig Venter and that had only about a million base pairs.




Interesting, thanks!




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: